Did you ever wish you could take
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!,
Super Smash Brothers Melee, or perhaps
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker on the road? Well, thanks to an enterprising console modder, now you can.
A few years ago a portable GameCube concept design began circling the internet. Unfortunately, for those of us who love some of the titles listed above, that particular product never materialized. Enter Twitter user
@GingerOfMods (current display name: GingerOfOz), a YouTuber and console modder who decided to make that initial mockup into something real.
Using the original low-resolution image, GingerOfMods estimated the size and scale of the concept device, by using the front-loading GameCube disc slot as a gauge. That is a useful measure, because all GameCube discs are the same size. When comparing the scale to projects he had done before, he ascertained the best screen size, which in turn allowed him to determine the overall size of the custom, 3D printed chassis. After fiddling with the hinge design, the case was ready to be fitted for the internal hardware.
Speaking of internals, this isn't actually a GameCube, per se. It features a more modern, smaller, lower-power Wii motherboard, but the hardware and software are (mostly) backward compatible with the GameCube making a better candidate for this portable mod. On top of that, the Wii is easier to mod at both the software and hardware levels. The Wii has long since reached its end of warranty and support life, so it's less likely to fall victim to Nintendo's
all-to-common litigious behaviors for a mod like this. Additionally, a modded Wii is capable of loading GameCube games from other storage media, without the need for a physical disk, if you have a legitimate digital backup of the game that is.
Image of Portable GameCube with Zelda Title Menu
While the mockups show a disk sitting in a slot this custom portable console does not have an optical disc drive in it. The market for mini-disc front-loaded optical drives that are small enough to fit inside this case is pretty much non-existent. Unfortunately, unlike many of the other retro builds we've
reported on lately, this one required lots of custom hardware, however, GingerOfMods did show his entire process in the YouTube video embedded above, so check it out.
Image Credits: @GingerOfMods on Twitter
